Risen From Ruins
By BobDafish. Alcohol use, Blood and gore. Previous Chapters: Staring Death in the Face Arkose Falling Next Fanfic: Destroyed Faith Prologue Pain. Pure agony. The sensation was thrilling to some. The finite time of life never failed to give everyone their dosage of raw anguish. Now, it was Mindbender's turn. The sensation ran through his body, like a molten lava as cold as ice was running through him. He was scared for his life. Images of his past flew through his mind, slowly ebbing away at his sanity. Wake up. Please. He was awake, in his cave with Distortion next to him. The pain had subsided, but the sensation of fear was etched into his mind like a carving. He woke Distortion, and he told her about his dreams. She laughed, and a dark expression fell on her face. Standing up, she pinned Mindbender to the ground and began to change. Her scales grew dark, and she was a NightWing again, her scarred face blanketed with anger and insanity. Mindbender could do nothing but stare in fear, a tingling sensation in the back of his mind was the only thing keeping him connected. Apparition leaned in to whisper something. "You are unfit to live. Your past actions will haunt you until death. Look at yourself. You're already broken, so I'm going to shatter what remains in there." She tapped his head and began to cut his tail lengthwise, taking extra time whenever he screamed. No. No. No. I can't die like this! Soon, he realized that it was not Apparition cutting into him, it was her morphed with his fears of what she once was and could become. The look of a psychopath scrawled on Apparition's face, her scars half faded as a reminder of her past. The thing that stood before him was a fusion of the most evil things imaginable, and it was killing him... Appartition whispered to him one more time, the words sounding like a blade on stone. "You are weak. Look at what you've done in the past, all of the innocents that you've killed. How can you live like that, knowing that everyone that you've hurt will never forgive you? How can you forgive yourself? The pain that you have caused cannot be forgiven. Sacrifices must be made, lives must be taken. That is what we are lead to believe, right? But what does it all mean? You can answer that question, you just don't want to, you useless coward!" She spat out the last two words like they were rotten. Then, she changed again. Standing in front of him was a physical manifestation of all of his fears and hidden feelings of rage, anger and pain. It was no longer some horrible monster, but himself. It leaned in to say one last thing. "You weak fool. You will never be forgiven, and eventually, I Will be all that's left of you, and you will be broken, merely another insane murderer that everyone hates. And do you know what the best part is? I get to watch you suffer during the whole thing!" Then, it stopped. He woke up in a military camp with three NightWings looking over him. He stood up, realized where he was, and walked towards the briefing tent, his dreams still haunting him in his waking hours.... Chapter 1 She had chosen me. Me, of all dragons! Me, the small IceWing with the accent! I couldn't even begin to wonder why when she started yelling at the others to leave. I was in the IceWing throne room, along with five others selected by Queen 's father. We were all deemed appropriate for marriage by him, so he brought us here. Then, Queen Hyperborean started out by examining them, aggressively grabbing and tilting their heads to get a view from all angles, looking at then from every side, trying to spot all of their flaws. She didn't examine me, though, she just looked at me and scoffed. That was when I realized that I had zero chance of being chosen. Or so I thought. Finally, something good happened to me! Finally, I was given justice! The Queen was now aggressively shoving the others out of the room, muttering to herself. We sat there for about a minute, the cold wind blowing and making it all the more dramatic. Finally, Hyperborean said something, It was a criticism of her father's choice of potential husbands. "Father, please tell me why you wanted your daughter to marry one of those idiots?" Her father, the former king, bowed his head low and slowly walked out of the room. Seeing him gone, she sat on her throne and asked me what the wedding should be like. I told her that I had no experience in any sort of romantic activity ever. "Well, let's get you up to speed." Two weeks later... The actual wedding went just fine, It was the reception that I hated, though. It started out normally, and almost everyone invited showed up. Mostly Queens and other royalty from other kingdoms, I had noticed. There were a lot of NightWings, however, and, surprisingly, their Queen failed to show up. This was expected, even though there was temporary peace between the two kingdoms. Unfazed by the lack of attendance, I normally did everything that I was supposed to do. Once in the banquet hall for the reception, however, things went downhill fast. We were both extremely drunk, and I ended up saying a lot of stupid things. Not exactly my idea of a good party. The one thing that I hated the most was my drunken conversation with my wife. It started out normal, eventually becoming a drunken conversation about love and food, until she kissed me. From what I remember, and what others told me, she pounced on top of me and rammed me into a wall, and I tried to spread my wings to give me some room to escape. This only resulted in her blocking me by spreading her bigger wings, though, and I pulled away from her to ask a favor. I remember saying "Please get off of me...Please?" But apparently, what came out was this: "Oh, kiss me again, you smitten dragon." That is all I remembered until I woke up on the ground. The Queen of the IceWings herself was staring down at me, a look of worry on her face. "Hello your Majest- wait. Dear, What time is it?" I'd remembered that we were married halfway through the sentence, and she realized this when she lifted me off of the ground, giggling happily. She seemed content with what she'd done the night before, and I wasn't about to ask her about it either, because I was still trying to figure out how I'd passed out. The floor was a mess, and I saw a broken glass where she'd tackled me. That was only the start of my problems... Chapter 2 Shock. That was the only way to describe what I'd been feeling the night before. He'd seemed like a nice, small dragon, and that was why I picked him. Also, I liked his accent. He stared at me, probably still wondering what had happened during the party earlier. Hornblende. I remembered his name, at least. Once everything was cleared up, I went to discuss the war against the SkyWings with my generals. As far as I could tell, the war went like this: The SkyWings hate everyone but the SeaWings, and vice versa. The NightWings and IceWings are enemies, as always The SandWings have their own civil war going on, so no-one expected them to be any help. Every other tribe doesn't care. According to the generals, we were pushing deep into the Sky Kingdom, but our troops were cut off from our lines. The rest was a blur, just a lightning-fast series of events. An explosion could be heard throughout the building, and the yells of guards outside of the door was growing louder. Everyone in the war room started to panic, and the door was blocked, so there was only one way out. We had to climb the walls and break through the ceiling I order to escape. I was the first to go, quickly climbing and smashing a hole through. My head entered the outside air, which was cold and smelled like blood. Scrambling up, I helped the others out. We now had enough room to spread our wings, so we took flight and saw the battle. It was a killing floor down there. Bodies were strewn everywhere, and it looked like the SkyWings were invading. The explosion was a dragonflame cactus. It all made sense now. A soldier came up to me and spoke. "Your Majesty, we've pinned them down in one corridor, but they're quickly escaping. We require more support if we want to repel them. I suggest that we pull some soldiers back from our forward positions on the front." "No. That would make it easier to puncture. Plus. they're already having a hard enough time there." We were just about ready to head inside and fight when I saw an extremely familiar body on the ground. "Hornblende! No! No!" Running over, I touched his snout, and he looked up at me. "How did this happen? Where were you? Please don't die!" A whirlwind of thoughts went through my mind, but the most prominent was how I would torture and kill whoever had injured him. An evil smile spread across my face. Yes, I would find a way to torture him before death. "Are you even listenin' to my explanation? Also, why d'you have such an evil look?" "Sorry. I'm just thinking about....things." According to him, it went down like this: The SkyWings detonated a bomb at the main gate, attempting to break through and kill everyone inside. The explosion happened, but the guards pushed them back. That was when their backup came. At least 500 dragons, it looked like, and they broke in and slaughtered everyone in the main hall. All of the civilians were either killed, fighting or evacuated, so the long battle wouldn't cause harm to the remainder. Just then, I remembered something in my throne room... Chapter 3 I'm broken, with no hope of going back. Fears of rejection haunted me before, and they haunt me now. The pain of the past still comes back and destroys me. My family is a million miles away, and I can't go back to them. Sanity is merely an illusion. We're all insane here. There is no escape. "Hey, Mindbender, snap out of it!" The voice brought me out of my thoughts. Why was I fighting? "Wake up, man! I've got news for you!" I whirled around, angrily glaring at the NightWing behind me, "What news?" "Your egg just hatched. Congratulations!" I sighed, thinking of the little dragonet with Distortion, sitting in the cave. It wouldn't be long now. Only a few more days, and then I could go home. Finally. Just then, a yell rang out. "SkyWings on the horizon! And it looks like they brought the entire army with them!" A group of soldiers flew out to meet them in advance and try to divert them long enough for us to move locations. The base was now bustling, and everyone was running about. "They're gonna get here fast, so hurry!" Deep inside of me, I felt a burning desire to kill them all. Those monsters... No. I won't give in to my insanity. "Get ready!" The first soldiers charged in, trying to take as many of us down as possible. I flew, met a SkyWing in midair, crashed into him and plummeted to the ground, landing in a mud puddle, dazed. I could see red dragons everywhere now, and I was battered from the fall. Rising up on my hind legs, I roared and launched myself at a large SkyWing, goring him with my horns. Images of what would happen to my family if they ever got that far into the Night Kingdom flashed through my mind. Suddenly, it was no longer me in control of my body. Something from inside was taking over, making me vicious. The lust for SkyWing blood was just too much for me to take. I began to ferociously attack every SkyWing I saw. At the end of the battle, a few of them were retreating. I looked around and saw a large circle of scorched ground, with tiny licks of flame still smoldering in the grass. "Three moons, that wasn't even the main force!" I shrunk away, my anger subsiding. "No. No. No! I won't-! Then, I blacked out. When I woke up, I was back in the Night Palace, and a tall, female NightWing was looking over me. For some reason, she looked incredibly familiar. "Who are you? Why are you here? Why am I here?" She responded with "You don't recognize your own mate? The doctor was right, it is severe head trauma." Memories flooded back now. "Apparition! Please, explain what happened!" And she told me the long story of how I'd exerted myself so much that fatigue swept over me, and I collapsed. Apparently, my fellow soldiers thought I'd been injured, so they brought me back to the Night Kingdom's borders. Suddenly, a muffled voice could be heard from outside. Apparition changed into Distortion, her scales shifting from black to tan in an instant. The voice was louder now, and I could make out what the dragon was saying. "Now, just through here. Your mother is waiting." A NightWing walked through the door, a small dragonet behind her. She nodded at Distortion, and the dragonet ran to her side. "Who is this, mother?" "Scour, meet your father, Mindbender." "F-Father!", he said, energetically jumping onto my stomach. I happily licked his face, and he laughed. "Father, why are you in the medical center? What happened to you?" I hesitated to reply, but I told him what I knew. "Did it hurt?" I shook my head and gently grabbed him, placing him on the ground next to me so I could get up. "Father! Let me show you something!", said Scour, and he dragged me all the way to my cave. He ran in, opened a drawer and grabbed a small painting. It was a picture of Distortion and I sitting next to each other. "Mother showed me this and said that you made it!" "Yes, I did paint that. It was a gift for her, and it's supposed to be a reminder of me when I'm away." I couldn't help but remember what enchantment Apparition had put on it. Once she revealed herself to Scour, the painting would change her from a SandWing to a NightWing, just like she could do in real life. "I haven't been In here for a good two months! It feels good to be home again." Apparition walked into the room, gently brushing my wings. She slowly walked over to the corner where we used to sleep, and I followed her. Sometimes, I just don't want anything to change. She licked my face causing me to blush madly. I might've forgotten how beautiful she was while on the battlefield. Apparition was now staring deep into my eyes, and I knew that she wished that I would never leave. My mind-reading powers told me that she was scared for our dragonet, and she wanted me to protect him if anything ever happened to her. "Father, Mother, are you guys OK?" "We're fine, Scour. Don't worry." said Apparition, smiling at him weakly. I probed her mind, and found out that she really wanted to change into her true self right there. She was trying to contain her feelings, and I whispered "Not now. When we go hunting tomorrow, then you can change.". She smiled and leaned into me, her weight pressing into my side, comforting me as I put my head down to sleep. She put her head next to mine, and I smiled widely at her. Scour crawled over me and sat between us. I was almost jealous of his ability to fall asleep fast. My thoughts blended together as I fell asleep... There was only darkness. The dark, black cave spread around me, enveloping me in pure black obsidian. My family was in the same position as before, and I heard voices. I sprung to my feet and grabbed a torch, igniting it and waving it around to see who had spoken. "Kill them, there's no need for you to hold back." My body moved on its' own, my talons wrapped around Scour's neck. His eyes opened, and as they did, I cut into the soft flesh of his neck. The blood got on Apparition, and she woke up with a start. Her eyes wide with confusion and anger, she turned to run. I wouldn't let her, though, and pulled her back into the cave. I tried to close my eyes, but I didn't have control of my body. The Jolting upwards, I awoke from the nightmare. It was then that I realized that it was only a dream. It felt real, though. Everyone was still asleep, so I got up carefully, making sure not to drop anyone in the ground. I stood up and walked outside to survey the hunting grounds. Images of my family in shock still haunted me as I walked the waking world. I quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind as I took in my first breath of the warm air.... Chapter 4 Apparition. My true name rang out through my head. I hated "Distortion" with all of my mind, and I wished that I could be more free. "Hurry up and stop daydreaming about yourself, Apparition!" His voice rang in my head. Yes, I would never forget Mindbender. "I could've gone to the forest and come back by now, let's go!" "Alright! Just one second, I have to do something." I responded, walking out of the cave and around a corner. Here, I could change. Here, I could become myself. I felt the tingling that I got whenever I changed shape, and my tan scales faded away, morphing into a dull black. Here I was, a NightWing once again. "Let's go! We're gonna miss everything good!" He was so anxious, but I loved him anyway. We flew off to the forest where all of the prey was, quickly gaining three catches. "This is more than enough for today, let's head back soon." He said. But I wouldn't head back before visiting my hatching spot. It was a small clearing in the forest, surrounded by thick-trucked oaks. I still vividly remembered the cold night that I broke through the eggshell, my mother reaching down and holding me, her voice soothing and loving. Once I had landed, I broke down and cried for my lost parents. Mindbender came up behind me and slowly began to pat my back, trying to comfort me. A flash of anger ripped through my mind. It told me to find and kill whoever killed them. Kill whoever took me away. Kill whoever had made my life miserable... Yes... I liked that idea... No. I was over that. I'd given up on that a long time ago, yet a maniacal, psychopathic grin spread across my face, teeth showing, and I stood up, touching the scars on my face and remembering how it'd felt when I raked my talons across that dragon's face to force him to bear my wound. Strength shot through me, and I twisted around and punched Mindbender to the ground, my talons seconds away from ripping his throat into little slivers. I was so angry, I'd lost control again. I tried to contain my anger in fear of actually hurting somebody, but there were the moments when I simply lost control and freaked out. "I'm-I'm so sorry..." I said in between sobs. I knew that Mindbender would always forgive me, and I would never hurt him, ever. My heart felt like it was frozen, merely another part of this body which was meant to kill and hurt... On the way back, I felt like an idiot. I landed in the cave and sat down, picking at the floor. I was scared for everyone around me. What was my purpose? What was I here for? "Apparition, why don't we get some rest before Scour gets home?" That was fine by me, I needed rest. I put my head down, not knowing what would happen to me in my subconscious over the next few hours... I'm an IceWing? How? ''I remembered what I'd done. ''The necklace... She wore it... It was a long time ago that I'd enchanted that necklace. I'd made it for the Queen of Ice, Hyperborean. Whenever she wore it, I was able to control her mind. I'd only wanted to do it to see what being royalty was like, and I'd forgotten that it existed until now. I walked around the Ice Palace, marveling at the architecture that I hadn't laid eyes upon for years, and envying the queens who lived there for their entire lives. I sighed, but out of a mouth that wasn't mine. Her body was mine. I could do anything I wanted, and I would be respected because I was the queen! Yes! I stood up, ready to exit my quarters, a smirk plastered on my face as I stood up. A small dragon was sleeping across the hall from me, so I made sure not to wake him. I left the room and went outside, fixated on the sky with eyes that weren't my own, the cold air hitting my face and making my skin tingle. My smirk was even wider now, almost a grin. I turned to the ocean and nodded, walking back inside and curling into a ball on my bed, trying to sleep in this wonderful palace... Wait. I could be free here, without any worries ever. I could be the queen... Chapter 5 I am merely a pawn in the grand scheme of things. That is what I grew up learning, that no-one would ever have a chance unless you were born royal. Everyone else would be stepped on by the others in this free-for-all called life. At least I was happy. My relationship with Sandbank had already started working fast, and our eggs were close to hatching. When I saw my mother In that prison, she stated at me with such hate in her eyes, that calling of my name... It still gave me chills. I was overjoyed to see Sandbank meet with her father, Arkose. He was such a kind dragon who'd been searching for her for nineteen years. I admired his perseverance and drive. If only I could match it. "Bystrite, come quick! They're hatching!" As I ran into the room, Sandbank stared at her eggs. Three of them, laid out neatly on the ground. Sandbank had a warm light in her eyes, and I saw her grin. She was waiting there for a long time for this very moment. A loud crack pierced the air as the eggs broke open, revealing three small, tan dragonets. I cried with joy, and I was immediately hugged by Sandbank. Chapter 6 The Sand Palace was in ruins. Someone had sent a group of mercenaries to detonate bombs underneath the foundation to destabilize it, but the whole thing crumbled. Now, the once-beautiful palace was just a collapsed heap of stone. It was painful to look at. My whole kingdom was falling, and it was all because of that one SandWing traitor. I was so angry and sad, not for myself, but for all of the dragons that died in the collapse of the palace. While in the desert, that traitor led the IceWing mercenaries right to us. I wanted to kill him slowly. Arkose will die a painful death... Yes, I want to end him slowly... Him and his wretched family will die! Unfortunately, I said this out loud, and a soldier tallying the casualties shot me a scared look. I waved him off and returned to my makeshift cave, a hole in a cliff. It was so painful, seeing the wreckage.... Chapter 7 I missed mother. She was taken from me. I was crying. Then, I was beaten. The beating made me proud. I smiled at the pain, and a grey dragon walked into the room. She picked me up and took me to another room. I was tied down to a table, and she grabbed a small blade, gently running it across my throat. "How does that feel, Hopesmasher?" "Wonderful" She then ran another blade across my throat, this time drawing blood. I cackled with delight and screamed "AGAIN! DO IT AGAIN! YES!" The grey dragon laughed at me and put down her blades. She untied me and brought me to a room with a raised stone circle in the middle. She dropped me in the circle, which was covered in congealed blood, and I smiled and waited. A sharp pain shot right through me, and my vision blurred for several minutes. When my vision returned, I looked down at myself. I saw a muscular leg leading down to four wickedly sharp talons. I scraped them across the floor and screeched with delight at the sound they made. I turned my head to look at my body. It was so lean and powerful-looking. My wings were long and thin, with navy blue membranes and not a trace of the white NightWing scales that were under my wings. My tail was long and powerful, and I swished it around to feel it's enormous strength. My scales were no longer their normal dark grey, they were almost pitch black, except for the scales that were on my wing membranes. I looked at my reflection in a pool of blood, and saw the most beautiful face that I'd ever seen. The grey dragon walked over to me and put her left foreleg on my back. She ran it along my skinny body until she reached my head. "How would you like to be my personal assistant?" Something screamed at me to refuse. Something buried deep. So deep, in fact, that I'd completely blocked it out of my mind. I accepted this offer and followed the grey dragon out of the chamber. We walked past the dragons in the hallway, and when we passed, they bowed to us. How weak. I am above their feeble level. I am higher than those weak fools! I'd never thought like that before, but I liked it. We rounded a corner and got to a chamber with a large throne in it. The grey dragon told me that I could sleep in a little chamber branching off of the main one. I went in and found a well-made bed. I sat down and stared upwards at the ceiling. I missed mother and father. I wanted to go back. But I had a purpose now. The grey dragon walked into the room and smiled at me warmly. She grabbed my wing and stroked it. "Hopesmasher, I need you. I need you to help me." She continued to stroke my wing, and I sighed. I got up and hugged her, and she smiled. I fell asleep with her next to me. When I woke up, the grey dragon was staring at me. For some reason, she looked more evil than last night.... I tried to move, but I couldn't. Something held me in place. I scratched at a silver collar that had appeared around my neck somehow. I continued to claw at it until the grey dragon spoke to me. "There's no use trying to claw it off, Hopesmasher. Don't try to do something that's impossible." I felt my mind start to blur, and all I could think about was how to serve the grey dragon, who I now called my "master". I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She'd been so nice to me the day before, why was she so evil now? Then, that thought faded. Any thoughts that didn't involve my master were destroyed. I had to serve her, for I was merely her slave. She was the ruler of my life. She got to dictate what I did and didn't do. "Master, how shall I serve you first?" I said while bowing my head low. She snickered and beckoned for me to come over to her throne. I sat at the foot of the throne, and Master stroked my back. I yelped with delight as she ran her foreleg across my back. "Send in whoever I have to address next." Said Master. She sounded commanding, and I saw someone else enter the throne chamber. It was a small, white dragon. They looked around and saw me. The look on the white dragon's face told me that he was terrified of me and attracted to me at the same time. "What have you come to tell me about, messenger?" The white dragon told Master that there was "Strong opposition on the northern front". This didn't please Master, and she spoke to me. Not with words, but with thoughts. We were telepathically connected. She could read my mind. Her thoughts were cruel, and she told me to "Show our guest the way out.". I sprang up and walked towards the white dragon, and he backed up against a wall. He seemed in love and terrified at the same time. I'd never seen such an expression before, and I picked him up. I dragged him to the entrance of the chamber and set him down. Master seemed pleased by this, and she invited me to come to her throne. I walked over, and she continued to stroke my back. Mother and father were never this generous or nice to me... The blood... I loved the smell of it. I was in an arena. Master had told me that I had to fight to prove that I was truly ruthless. I was slashing at another dragon with my claws, my long, sharp claws. I loved it when they screamed in pain. I loved it when they begged for mercy, and I gave them none. No mercy. Ever. The other dragon was constantly shifting colors. This intrigued me, and I slashed at his back. He jumped and changed into an angry-looking red, and tried to scratch my face. Being abnormally tall thanks to something called "enchantments'', I simply stretched my neck. I was only 8 years old when Master took me away. I didn't understand magic then, but I knew that it was strange. Nobody ever called me by my real name, even though I insisted that they do. They always called me the "Queen's monster". I was insulted by this, because clearly, I'm not a monster. I'm just another dragonet, right? I only look and act this way because of Master, right? "Hopesmasher, come here. I need you to do something for me." Master's voice made me instantly listen. I walked over and asked what I had to do. "Please, go into the prison. Walk through every corridor to make sure things are in order, and come back here." Instantly, I got up and walked towards the prison. I walked through the doors, and the guards immediately let me in. The path between the rows of cells was narrow, and everyone who saw me would either get a scared look on their face, or a look that said "I love you" on it. I continued to walk through the prison, making my way back to the entrance. Once I returned to the throne room, Master smiled at me and beckoned for me to come to her. I ran towards her, and she held up a suit of armor. "Put this on. You'll look even more intimidating!" I slipped the armor on, starting with the helmet and working my way to my tail. Soon, I was covered in a gleaming suit of shining, silver armor. I smiled, and Master smiled back. She told me that I needed to get something for her. Something she called "The Ice Queen's Necklace". I smiled as she explained what I was to do. Chapter 8 Hyperborean sat with me in the throne room. The SkyWings had breached the palace, but we'd managed to take a small part of it back. Hyperborean smiled at me, and I licked her face. "Hornblende! Don't do that!" She whined at me. I laughed and leaned on her. She leaned away from me, and I harmlessly slid off of her side. I stood up to look outside and saw a strange shape in the sky. If one of the moons wasn't in the sky, I would've missed it. A large, dragon-shaped object flew across the moon and landed in the SkyWing-occupied side of the palace. I woke Hyperborean and had some guards go to check it out. When none of them returned, I started to worry. I went down to investigate, bringing a small group of soldiers with me. Screams could be heard now, we were getting closer. We rounded a corner and saw a...thing. It looked like a NightWing, except MUCH larger than any NightWing that I'd ever seen. It was extremely thin, with a long, powerful-looking tail. It's wings were huge and it's legs were muscular. It had four, razor-sharp talons on each foot, and it's face was breathtakingly beautiful. It was completely black, except for it's navy wing membranes. It wore a silver collar around it's neck, and it was busy killing a SkyWing soldier. After it noticed us, it turned and grinned evilly. "Oh, great. More stuff to kill." It's voice was sharp and oddly feminine, and it slunk towards us, keeping it's skinny body close to the ground. It had a wicked look in it's eyes, and it spoke again. "I'm going to give you five seconds to run. After that, I'm coming to kill you." We all split off in different directions, praying that this beast didn't find us. The screams of pain notified us of any slackers. "Two of you are dead already! Hurry up and run!" I snapped my head upwards to see if I could escape through the ceiling. Luckily, there was a hole. I heard it breathing behind me. I had to escape quickly, or I'd die here. I turned around and was immediately struck by the dragon's beauty. I almost fell out of the air as I flew towards the hole in the ceiling. The dragon grabbed at me, and it managed to slash a huge cut in my tail. "I'll kill you all if I have too!" This dragon... This monster... Why was it here? And why was it so intent on killing everyone? I made my way back to the throne room. I had to warn everyone of the dragon that slowly made its way towards the room which housed my only family member. I flew outside in the cold, bitter air, the throne room balcony suddenly becoming visible. I landed on it and collapsed in the middle of the room, my cuts bleeding profusely. Hyperborean ran towards me and screamed when she saw the blood that covered my face. The doctors came over and started to heal me while I told the story of the dragon, and how it was coming here. "W-what? There's a monster in the palace, and it's killing everyone?" I nodded, a blank look on my face. Hyperborean stared at me in shock, a look of fear on her face. She started to cry, and I held her talon as she let the tears stream from her eyes. She leaned in and hugged me, so I tried to hug her back without moving. Just then, a scream rang out. "Your Majesty! Our forward position has been overrun!" I started to black out as the doctors bandaged my tail wounds. Why was this dragon here? And what did she want? Screaming came from outside of the door, and I crawled underneath the throne, dragging my mate with me. The dragon broke through the door and looked around. Seeing the guards in the room, she walked up to them and cut their throats open, leaving them to either choke or bleed to death. The dragon walked towards the throne and smashed it, revealing out hiding place. Hyperborean shrieked as she was lifted into the air by the massive beast that stood before us. She eyed Hyperborean and slammed her into the ground, holding an enormous talon to her throat. "Where is the necklace? Tell me, and you might live." I looked confused, and the dragon snickered at me. "You don't know? She has an enchanted necklace that allows the wearer to be controlled by whoever tells it to obey them. She never told you? What a pity." The dragon started to look for the necklace, overturning and destroying things. Hyperborean finally revealed it's location. "Here. Take it and leave." She held out a gold necklace with one blue sapphire on it. The large dragon grabbed it and took my mate to wherever it resided, leaving me in awe... Epilogue Hopesmasher knew that Master would be pleased. She knew that the necklace would help Master achieve her goals, whatever they were. She landed on top of a mountain, making her way to a cave in the side of it. She slipped through, making sure to leave no evidence that she was ever there. "Hopesmasher, how did it go? Did you get the necklace?" "Yes, Master, I have completed my task and await your commands." Master was always nice to Hopesmasher after she completed a special task, but this time, she seemed overjoyed. "Well, you can accompany me to the Star Balcony if you wish to. I wanted to go there for a few hours tonight." "Master, I would be happy to accompany you tonight." Later that night, the two dragons sat under the stars. "Hopesmasher, I would like you to accomplish one more task for me tomorrow." "And what might that be, Master?" "I need you to attack a small village in the Night Kingdom for me. It should seem rather familiar to you..." "Yes, Master. I would be happy to do that for you." Master smiled, she was testing Hopesmasher again... Category:Genre (Horror) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon) Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Completed) Category:Mature Content